The washing and drying of garments is a routine chore undertaken by millions of people throughout the world. Among such garments include items of apparel that come into intimate contact with the human body, i.e., underwear. Because of the close and intimate contact between the body and such garments, such garments must be thoroughly cleaned.
Such intimate garments, however, are often made of delicate fabrics and are specially designed to adapt to the contours of the body. Most notable of such garments is the bra whereby the bra, and more particularly the cup portions and strap portions of the bra, are often formed of fragile fabric having pre-formed, cup members, pads, and wire supports that help enhance the fit of the garment when worn by the user. Such structures, however, lend themselves to tearing deformation and damage when subjected to laundering processes in conventional washing machines and dryers.
As such, these garments can become severely damaged, if not ruined, if subjected to multiple laundering processes. To avoid such damaging action, many users hand-wash such garments which unfortunately takes considerable time, labor, and is inconvenient.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide an intimate garment protector that protects the shape of the garment while allowing the garment to be laundered by conventional washing machines and dryers. Additionally, there is a need for an intimate garment protector that is simple to use and is made of durable inexpensive materials that allow the protector to be repeatedly used.